The Potential Fatal Job
by Kid'sDarkWolf
Summary: Someone is trying to kill Eliot. What? This isn't a new thing? Well what about the WAY they're trying to kill him? I mean, who else has tried attacking our favorite Hitter when he's bed ridden in a hospital, right? Can the team find the perpetrator before he manages to kill their friend? While also avoiding the FBI? Eventual E/P
1. Something's Not Right

**Chapter 1: Something's Not Right**

There was something odd about Eliot today.

Everyone could see it in the way he walked, the way his smiles were a little too stiff at the corners, how his shoulders were a little slumped and rather weak looking as opposed to the straight backed pride he usually showed. How his eyes were two shades too dark with deep circles under them.

They had been noticing throughout the whole last half of their con, a con that had just been finished about half an hour ago. Eliot said nothing much besides murmuring a soft 'your welcome' to the young teen who he'd been guarding throughout the duration of their con and then had gone up to the office. He was currently making dinner, like he usually did after a job, but it pained all of them to see him fumble slightly with his knives, usually cutting vegetables with such a skill that it scared them to think about what he was _really_ capable with the equipment he was cooking with.

Now he looked like just the movement was hurting him.

The four of them had all asked, but he just brushed it off and said he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, even though they all knew that he had been fine just that morning so it couldn't have been that.

Eliot didn't seem focused, barely catching himself when he almost put sugar in his pasta sauce instead of salt, nearly burning the noodles in the boiling water, but despite this the food was still amazing, like always, even if the dinner around the table was very tense with the hitter seemingly lost in his thoughts and everyone else(except Parker, who was openly staring) was discretely tossing him worried and concerned looks.

He said his farewells and went home to sleep, feeling the odd feeling in his head and stomach and knowing that he needed the rest and water, feeling the starting of a cold at the middle of his chest, his head aching ever so slightly right between his eyes and pressure behind his nose and below his ears, the sure signs of a sinus head ache.

He knew his team was concerned but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to tell them, his family, that he was feeling sick. Eliot didn't feel like he deserved to burden them with his hurts when he had hurt many people in his life, no matter how he tried to atone for every single innocent person he hurt, every single person he killed, every gun he ever fired.

So he went home, fed his cat(yes, he has a cat, her name's Miyu) and climbed into bed after grabbing a glass of water.

**111**

When Eliot woke up the morning, it was to a pounding headache and a feeling of suffocating, as if a thick wooly blanket was wrapped around his throat and face, constricting his chest. He forced himself out of bed and the room tilted around him dangerously, vertigo worming into his entire being and nearly making his fall sideways as dizziness made that tilt also spin in random directions.

_'I have to get to the office,_' he thought groggily, trying to blink the black and white spots out of his vision. He was going to be helping Nate speak to a client today so he couldn't let this random bought of sickness, which now he doubted was just a simple cold but still too stubborn to think he couldn't handle it, get to him.

He took several steps to his living room, barely managing to avoid stepping on a sleeping Miyu, before he had to stop and rest, leaning against the archway to the living room, head low as he tried to hold in the feeling of sickness in his stomach that threatened to make a mess on the floor. Eliot raised his head carefully, knowing that the room would swim for a moment before he could get to his sink for a glass of water, something that he needed desperately as he suddenly realized that his tongue was so dry he probably should have drank the glass still in his bedroom.

He staggered a bit, frowning stubbornly. "I wont let this get to me," he muttered hoarsely, turning on the tap and filling a glass, drinking it greedily and then repeating as it cooled his oddly hot feeling insides. He took a sip of a third glass, knowing that he really shouldn't drink so quickly or he'd-

And then he was barely able to hold himself over the sink as he retched into the basin, gagging up any of the dinner from the night before that was still left in his stomach, the water leaving right along with it. '_So I've got the flu_,' he told himself stubbornly, unwilling to believe it was anything else, '_I just need some aspirin, cough syrup, and fluids... maybe some chicken soup, too... But I don't have time for that!_'

The hitter coughed one last time, spat into the sink, and then grabbing the bottle of mouth wash he had there for if he was in a rush to rinse out his mouth. He took another, more hesitant sip of his glass of water and then carefully walked to his closet, barely managing to put on jeans without collapsing from the dizziness before going back out to the living room.

He lent against the wall by his coat hanger, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths while absently groping for his keys when, suddenly, he couldn't hold himself up even using the wall. Eliot felt panic well slightly, grabbing onto his coat and barely catching himself. He steadied himself and pushed away from the hanger and went for his shoes, but as he lent down to grab them, he realized his mistake as he continued going forward beyond his control and didn't manage to stop himself from crashing face first with the floor, tumbling slightly and hitting his head against the wall when he finally slid down all the way.

Eliot laid there for several seconds, stunned as his jaw hurt from the impact with the floor, his head jarred and spinning as his mind began to whirl and wander. For a moment he thought the reason he was on the floor was because he was on a job, the pain in his jaw the residue of a powerful elbow to the face. He went to fight back when he suddenly remembered that Hardison's birthday was in two days and he still had to pick up wrapping paper for his best friend's gift. "I should get that before going home..." he muttered dazedly, talking to Miyu who sat in front of him with her head tilted. He blinked as he stared at her, "Wait..." he mumbled, eyes wide in sudden panic as he heard his phone ringing from several feet away, "I never went to the office yet..."

Eliot became aware of himself on the oddly hard floor of his apartment, the fluffy carpet of his living room doing nothing to remove the cold that was chilling him fast and making his shoulders shake as panic began to make his stomach clench and his hands to feel clammy. '_I have to get up. I have to answer the phone. Nate's calling and I'm missing the client meeting. I have to change Miyu's water bowl_...' his mind dredged up several of his sudden obligations that he had for that morning alone as he somehow managed to push himself to his knees and support his upper half with his usually strong, now extremely shaky arms.

And as he finally got to his feet, just about to reach for his phone on the coffee table, his stomach rebelled once more and he was barely able to stagger back to the kitchen and throw up once again in the sink. But this time, the retching didn't stop at the miniscule drops of water in his system and he ended up spitting fluid into his sink that was green. What the hell was going on? He shouldn't be this sick, let alone with so little warning.

He took several shaky breaths and slowly sank down to the floor, leaning against the counter and trying not to let his breaths come out in pants as that would only make him hyperventilate and possibly panic too much to be able to think. He felt his stomach rebel again but didn't have the energy to stand over the sink, only managing to turn his head and be sick on his kitchen tile, once more all green.

Green fluids were a bad, dangerous sign, his foggy mind suddenly realized with a startling clarity and that, no matter how much he hated them, no matter that it would be possible for many of his enemies to find him if something was wrong to the point of needing to be reported, he had to go to the hospital. Immediately.

"Mi-Miyu..." he whispered between forced calm breaths, trying not to throw up again, "Get... get my com... it's... in my... jacket pock...et..." he said, his words clipped between deep breaths.

He was shivering and dazed and exposed and he knew that he was far too vulnerable. He knew that if he was attacked right now, he would be killed without the slightest resistance because he could barely lift his arms to wipe the cold sweat off his face, let alone punch somebody out if he were threatened. Eliot pulled his arms up to his chest and squeezed in an attempt to warm himself as Miyu appeared and dropped the com by his thigh, pawing at his pant legs anxiously and nudging the com closer to him with her nose, mewing concerns in the only way she knew how.

He knew that his cat was right, that he had to reach down and pick up the com, turn in on, and place it in his ear, but his arms would no longer respond, now limp in his lap. Miyu climbed up to his lap and nuzzled his face. She was warm, nice and warm. Eliot's eyes began to close but when he felt her nudge at his hand he found he could finally find just the right amount of energy to clumsily move it down to the com.

With shaking fingers and chattering teeth, he began to turn it on but retched once more to the side, making the puddle of sick beside him grow slightly, before finally managing to get the com activated. It took four tries to get it in his ear, and by then he heard Nate and Hardison speaking at him.

"-liot? Why aren't you answering your phone? Sophie and I both called." He heard Nate's subtle concern just as his friend spoke up.

"Yeah, dude. Where are you, man? I had to sit in on the client meeting in your place even though it was your turn." he heard the hacker complain, probably annoyed that he couldn't play with whatever new computer gadget he got.

He breathed in through his nose and slowly let out through his mouth, barely able to stop his teeth from chattering.

"Eliot? Are you okay?" He heard the deep concern of his boss with no hidden subtext, just pure concern, "What's wrong?"

"I..." he gasped out and had to turn away as he retched again in that same puddle, "Hospital... I need... I can't... stand up..." he shivered violently and coughed harshly. Wet, violent coughs that caused blood to dribble the corner of his mouth and leak from his nose. "I... Nate... I need to..." he groaned as the pain suddenly exploded in his head again, "I need to... go to the hospital..."

"The hospital?" Nate said in surprise but Eliot could vaguely heard clothing shuffle as he heard Parker and Hardison make sounds of distress and Sohpie's voice suddenly jumped in.

"We'll be there as soon as we can, Eliot, just hold on, okay?" he couldn't answer because he was too busy dry heaving, his stomach too empty to really throw anything else up, "Eliot? Eliot, are you still with us?"

Eliot heard her concern and heard Parker's voice crying something about being the only one reckless enough to drive fast enough to get to him, but he could say nothing in reply as his vision grew dark and he fell to the side.

Fortunately, it wasn't the side the held his sick, it was the other. He left consciousness to the sound of his team, his _family_, yelling to hold on, and the feel of warmth in his stomach that appeared from the thought that someone cared for him coupled by the comfort of Miyu's sandpaper tongue licking his sweat off his forehead.


	2. Affiliations

I had been going to put this up tomorrow but I already have so many nice reviews that I _had_ to do it now! Thank you all for your reviews, favorites, and alerts! It made my stomach feel happy:P

**Chapter 2: Affiliations**

Nate paced anxiously, frowning a bit as he waited for the team hitter to come through the door.

Eliot was late. He was _never_ late. Sure, sometimes he was five minutes behind schedule, but what normal person wasn't?

No, he was nearly an _hour and a half_ late.

"Maybe you should call him," Parker suggested, frowning the same as him as she munched on a bowl of cereal, brow creased in worry.

"No, Eliot likes his privacy," Hardison spoke before the mastermind could, though they all could see that he was probably almost as worried as Parker, the hacker and thief close to Eliot in a way that Nate and Sophie would probably never truly understand, no matter how close they themselves got to him and them. "He'd be annoyed if we bugged him..."

They were silent for another ten minutes before Hardison began messing with his new equipment and Nate pulled out his phone, "I'm calling him," he announced before doing just that.

It rang several times before going straight to voice-mail.

Surprised, Nate lowered the phone and clicked the end button, "He didn't answer," he said, "He never _not_ answers."

"Maybe you should try again..." Sophie said hesitantly but when the same thing happened, she pulled out her phone instead, both glancing at Parker, who had put her bowl aside and was looking more and more concerned for their hitter.

"He didn't answer for me either," the grifter said sadly, her tone full of motherly concern, "Nate, what if something's happened to him or-"

"Eliot's com just turned on," Alec interrupted suddenly and they all did the same.

They only heard silence so Nate began talking, "Eliot? Why aren't you answering your phone? Sophie and I both called," he said, unable to really hide his concerns.

"Yeah, dude," the hacker said, his tone slightly whiny to cover any worry he'd felt, "Where are you, man? I had to sit in on the client meeting in your place even though it was your turn."

They heard deep, shaky breaths and slight clicking that Parker mutter slightly was 'chattering teeth' and concerns were through the roof, "Eliot?" Nate said urgently, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I..." the sound of painful vomiting made their own stomachs clench, "Hospital..." Eliot gasped, "I need... I can't... stand up..." his words were chopped up by deep, gasping breaths, the phrases slightly jumbled up before violent coughs that were far too wet to be just plain coughs exploded over the com, "I..." they could almost _feel_ Eliot shivering, "Nate... I need to..." they heard their hitter groan in pain, "I need to... go to the hospital..."

"The hospital?" Nate said in surprise. Eliot _hated_ hospitals. He was paranoid about them and was convinced that going to one would make it too easy for his enemies to find him. He had to be really bad, worse than ever before, to be _wanting_ to go to the hospital. The mastermind didn't even register himself and his team rushing to their jackets and hurriedly pulling them on.

"We'll be there as soon as we can, Eliot, just hold on, okay?" Sophie said frantically as Parker made a slight whimpering sound and Hardison let out a mild hum of worry, unable to really form a sentence of comfort to their hurting teammate.

The man didn't answer but they heard more heaving, though this time it was more like wet wheezing, "Eliot? Eliot, are you still with us?" Sophie asked when it fell quiet on the other end.

Their fear for their friend was growing and Nate's stomach turned to ice as they heard a low thud and everything was completely silent.

Parker, eyes sparkling with held in tears, suddenly had the keys to Lucille2, "I'm the only one experienced enough to drive there fast enough to get to him!" she cried before Hardison could even open his mouth to protest and they all couldn't help but agree as they got into the van and started it up.

They called words of encouragement to the hitter, but all they got was silence so they kept at it the whole way to the man's home, wishing for an answer to confirm that Eliot was okay. That he was aware enough to stay alive through whatever was happening.

**222**

When Parker picked the lock to her friend's home and opened the door, the first thing that they could discern was the smell of sick. Very acidic sick.

They entered slowly, afraid of what they'd find, and just got to the living room when Alec saw something. "Guys... he's in the kitchen..." he said, walking towards where they could see the hitter's foot from wherever he was sitting.

Nate, Sophie, and Parker all rushed to the room with him and froze slightly.

Eliot lay with a fluffy Persian cat lovingly licking his pale and sweaty face as he lay on the yellow tiles, breathing heavily and having dried blood around the corners of his mouth and from his nose, a large puddle of bright green vomit just to the opposite side of him, only two inches away from almost being on his pants. The hitter looked so small compared to how they were used to seeing him that it gave them pause before Parker was suddenly there, gently moving the cat away to place her forehead down against their hitter's sweaty one.

"He's got a fever of at least 104," she said after a moment, eyes full of worry and pain, "We need to get him to the hospital _now_!" for once she was full blown serious and her words sparked movement as Sophie began grabbing many wash cloths and a bucket, filling it with cool water and the two conscious males both went to Eliot's sides, pulling him to a standing position slightly to carry him out to the van, wincing as the normally strong hitter groaned painfully and opened blue eyes so clouded with pain and bright with fever that they were no longer sure what color they were.

"Hardi...son...? What're you... what're you doin' in... in Croatia?" he asked deliriously, blinking his eyes at the hacker with deep confusion mixed with worry, "You need'a... go... they'll kill you..." he gasped out, clenching his eyes shut in pain, groaning again. "I think I'm gonna be..." he broke into dry heaves, the amount of sick on the floor and in the sink a clear indication that he was too far out to go anywhere but the hospital.

With Sophie holding doors open, they managed to bring the slightly panicked, feverishly delirious hitter to the van, which Parker had set a large siren and police light at the top, having put on her FBI jacket with her badge around her neck, rushing them along and speeding with the sirens on as soon as Eliot was settled into a lying position in the back with Sophie caringly placing cold wash cloths under his neck, on his forehead, and along his oddly bruised and swollen jaw, trying to reduce the fever and relieve any pain she could as Eliot spoke random languages in random emotions ranging from amused to worried to angry to scared all the way to the hospital.

**222**

The waiting room was a tense experience that Parker found she really did not like.

All around them there were families, small ones, large ones, and odd ones, all waiting around in varying degrees of worry and fear for loved ones and the anxiousness permeating the area was making her edgy.

She wanted to sneak through the vents to spy on Eliot's doctors. Wanted to make sure they were doing _everything_ they could to help her friend. Wanted to make sure Eliot was still alive.

But Alec had told her that she couldn't. Nate had told her that she had to trust the doctors to do their job the way they should. And Sophie had rubbed her back and said that if they could, they would have let her but at the moment the best thing would be to wait.

She didn't like it, and she continued to grumble under her breath her various degrees of unpleasant anger and the unfairness, but she sat in-between Sophie and Hardison and wished desperately that her friend would be the next person to walk out of those closed Emergency Room doors and be smiling and saying things like 'I know I asked to be brought here, but now that I'm better, can we _go_ before I get recognized?' even though he probably would never complain like that in a million years or-

"Family of Marcus Baker?" a doctor said and Parker wouldn't deny that she was the first to her feet when she heard one of Eliot's aliases and by the doctor, eager to hear the news of her hitter's condition. And, had she not been so worried, she would have wondered when Eliot became _her_ hitter.

The doctor looked at each of them seriously, "Come with me,"

She didn't miss how confused Hardison looked or the worried and pained look that Sophie and Nate shared, but she couldn't add to it as she didn't know the whole ER waiting room process, not really used to spending much time on the waiting side of things. She didn't understand why they were so scared looking because the doctor wanted to talk to them someplace else, but even then her stomach became a bit icy despite her lack of understanding.

"My name is Dr. Ronald Jeninson," the man introduced finally, once they were all in a different room, "Before we continue, I will need to know your affiliation with my patient."

"Affili- Dr. Jeninson, we're the ones who brought him here!" Sophie said, looking shocked, "Of course we only have his best interest in-"

"You don't understand, miss," he said gently, "I need to be sure that I give out no information to anyone that could cause Mr. Baker harm."

"What are you-?"

"Detective," he said, cutting Parker off and she suddenly remembered she had went into her FBI personnel Dt. Hagen in case someone pulled her over on the road, "I know that the department sent you about this case but I really think that this should only be a family thing. So please..." he was _dismissing_ her! From seeing one of her best and only friends!

She glared at him in annoyance, a small bubble of rage she normally didn't feel, "I'm the one who drove him here. My department didn't send me and I have no idea what you are talking about so-"

"My name's Tom Baker," Nate said suddenly, cutting her off before Parker could explode, which she clearly wanted to do as worry for Eliot clouded her grasp on her emotions, holding out the ID he had taken to keeping in his jacket pocket, "Mark's my brother."

"I'm Marcus's sister-in-law," Sophie chimed in, holding out her hand and Jeninson shook it, still shooting Parker off looks, "Sarah Baker, I'm married to Tom here."

"I'm Allan Thomas and Mark's been my best friend since we were children. I'm Special Agent Hagen's partner in the bureau." Hardison said, giving a kind smile.

"And as you know, I'm Special Agent Jenni Hagen. El- Mark's my friend through Allan and Tom," Parker's tone was rather clipped, fighting to keep anger from her tone, "Now please, doctor, tell us what this is about."

"You really don't know, detectives?" Jeninson asked quietly.

"We do not. We're currently off duty." Alec said softly, "Please tell us what's going on with the extra security involving our friend's condition, Doctor."

"Someone tried to kill him, Detective Thomas,"

And like that, the cold feeling in Parker's stomach became ten times more intense.


	3. The Antidote

Well, I realized when I wrote this chapter that it was really short, so instead of just starting chapter 4 after an adorably fluffy moment between Parker and Eliot, I combined it to this one and ended it with an evil cliffy instead. Sowwy people, but at least it's an update;)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited, subscribed, etc. It, as always, made me feel special:)

**Chapter 3: The Antidote  
**

"What do you mean someone tried to kill him?" Nate said seriously, "As in, went into his hospital room and tried to strangle him?"

"No, I mean the reason he had to be brought here was that somebody was trying to kill him," Jeninson said, adding more detail and leaning forward to say quietly, "Mr. Baker, your brother was poisoned."

It was silent for several seconds until Hardison spoke, "How is he?"

"We had to put him on a bronchial tube and a nutrient drip because his stomach would reject anything we give him and his lungs were starting to turn against, not to mention there was severe strain on his throat because of how much he was vomiting before he got here, which also caused severe dehydration, another reason for the nutrient drip. It's extremely lucky you got him here when you did." He spoke solemnly as he gave his diagnosis, "Another ten minutes left untreated and Mr. Baker would be dead as we speak."

An icy silence hung around them for three times as long and ten times more painfully than the last silence moments before.

"Is there any cure? What kind of poison was it?" Alec said, needing to know just in case something needed to be retrieved so they could help their hitter, his best friend. To know if there was anything he could hack into to make getting the cure for his friend quicker and easier for everyone involved.

"I have already administered the antidote. The poison was actually a fairly common toxin and extremely easy to identify. But sometimes the victim doesn't always get the treatment in time because of how fast acting the poison is and the symptoms for it. You said he called you? He must have high mental strength to by-pass the hallucinations long enough to call for help." Jeninson was impressed, that much was sure, but then he took another somber note, "We wont be sure if we gave him the antidote in time to stop the poison or if we were too late and just stalling the inevitable, but we brought in the FBI to help your friend and keep him safe. If it worked, he should wake up in a few days, at least two."

"Can we see him?" Sophie asked when she saw everyone else was hesitant to ask. None of them wanted to see Eliot in a hospital bed, but they didn't want to leave him alone either.

"Yes, but I need to know if you know anyone who would want to do this to your friend? The FBI told the Dean and I to ask the family, you, if you have any information that could be offered about your friend's condition."

The team could think of _many_ people who would want Eliot dead. Whole _countries_ even. But right now, in this hospital, he wasn't Eliot Spencer, he was Mark Baker, a poor boy that had been caught in the wrong place at a worst time. So they shook their heads and denied everything, because even if he was there as himself, Eliot wouldn't want anyone, let alone the _FBI_, knowing his secrets.

"Than follow me," Jeninson sighed and lead them out and down the hall to a door that had two police officers stationed in front of it who stepped aside for the doctor but gave the team of thieves sympathetic looks as they were lead into their friend's personal ICU room that was, apparently, not only FBI but also local police protected.

"If he was awake he'd complain about everyone making a big deal out of him," Sophie mused sadly, "Always thinking he wasn't worth the effort when us being here proves that he is."

"I'll... leave you alone," Jeninson said and then left quietly, leaving the group to stare at the too pale face of Eliot, a tube going into his mouth and an oddly colored IV bag attached to his arm.

Sophie closed her eyes for a moment, not able to really stand the feeling of helplessness in her stomach at the sight of her strong teammate looking so vulnerable, "How did he manage to be poisoned? He's always so careful with what he eats and drinks. He grows his own food for Pete's sake." she said, feeling exasperated even though she knew she had no one to blame but whoever caused this.

Hardison was quiet for a minute and then suddenly went wide eyed and turned to Parker, "You remember how Eliot got knocked out during our job yesterday? I didn't see him get hit anywhere he would have been knocked unconscious for! What if-"

"The guys he was fighting had needles on them!" Parker realized at the same time as the hacker, looking at her friend in shocked realization as Sophie and Nate shared a look themselves.

"So, why were they trying to kill Eliot, I wond..." Nate trailed off, blinking, "Did Dr. Jeninson say Eliot would be asleep for at least two days?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because, he's staring right at us." Sophie, Alec, and Parker whirled around, having been in a sort of huddle as they spoke, and found bleary blue eyes staring at them sleepily.

"Eliot!" Parker said happily, grabbing his hand because she was afraid that hugging him would hurt him more, "We- What?" he tapped his forefinger against her hand in a rhythm. Sort of like...

"Morse code," Sophie said in realization.

"He said that he feels like crap," Parker said with a slight smile, "And he also said that if the tube doesn't get removed by someone now, he'll take it out himself and shove it up the doctor's- Hey, be nice Eliot, that tube thingy saved your life!" she pouted as Hardison was quick to hit the call button, a wraggled looking nurse running in.

"Yes, is something wrong with your frie...nd...?" she trailed off and blinked in shock, "You _just_ got the antidote an hour ago!" she yelped, reaching for her pager.

Moments later, Jeninson rushed in, "What's wrong? Did something happen to Mr. Baker?"

"He's awake, sir."

"Wha...?" he trailed off to find clear blue eyes staring at him intently, eyes narrowed slightly as he held the hand of the blond 'detective'.

"He wants the tube removed." Nate explained quietly at the doctor's suspicion, "He said it woke him up and he can't relax with it in."

Sophie looked at their hitter, noting that even as he didn't look any better than a few moments ago, just having his eyes open made her feel like he would be okay. He still looked vulnerable, his eyes a bit darker than normal and looking so _small_ and _pale_ on those bright white hospital sheets, but at least he was conscious enough to let them know he was still _there_.

As the befuddled doctor tried to calmly tell the shockingly awake Eliot why he shouldn't remove the tube, the team could see their hitter's most subtle signs of anger; his left eye squinting just a bit more then the right, his lips pursing(awkwardly around the tube) and the slight reddening to his ears(which looked shock red compared to his currently pale white face) and they knew it was matter of time till the man took things into his own albeit shaky hands.

But throughout the whole stare off between doctor and patient, Eliot never once let go of Parker's comfortingly warm hand.

And, somehow, not ten minutes later we find Eliot rubbing at his throat, which was feeling raw from the tube, and groaning a bit as the world was still spinning despite his best efforts to hide it. It was bad enough that they've all been staring him down since the doctor had finally deemed him well enough to take out the bronchial tube, but now his freaking throat was raw and burning and the room was still spinning and-

"Hardi-"

"Ah, no, I'm currently Special Agent Allan Thomas with the FBI," the hacker cut in quickly, lest someone come inside, and pointed to Parker, Nate, and then Sophie as he spoke, "She's Jenni Hagen, Nate's your brother Tom Baker, and Sophie's Sarah, who's married to Nate."

"So that's..." he grimaced slightly, attempted to clear his throat, and wished that they would let him drink actual water, the nutrient drip doing nothing to calm his thirst and the ice-chips they wanted him to eat were far too demeaning for him to actually start eating _one at a time_ like everyone wanted to insist he do. "That's why he called me , then." He rolled his eyes and regretted it, closing his eyes and trying to quell the slight nausea that welled up inside his throat, sighing in annoyance under his breath as his energy left him as the discomfort mostly disappeared.

**333**

As the hitter's eyes closed and didn't reopen the team tried to squash down their new set of worries. Eliot's energy wasn't like it had been not ten hours before but even though they knew it was probably just the poison in his system still effecting him, they still felt massively worried that he was so tired.

A knock on the door behind them made all of them turn around to see a certain FBI agent sticking his head in, "Hello, you must be the family of Marcus Baker, I'm Special Agent McSweeten, and I'm the guard for- Agent Hagen, Agent Thomas?" he cut off with a bright smile, seeing Parker and Hardison standing by the bed with Nate and Sophie, "I didn't know you were put on this assignment."

"Ah, I'm not, actually," she denied, catching a look from Sophie and not having to put much effort into it to make herself look bedraggled and depressed and rather close to tears, "I'm here for personal reasons."

"Oh," understanding seemed to dawn on McSweeten's face, "Is he your friend?" he nodded towards Eliot, "I heard that he's got a wicked immune system. Woke only an hour after he got the antidote."

Her smile tightened slightly, "Yup, my friend." another look from Sophie, "Actually, he's my boyfriend," she glanced once more at Sophie and Nate, and they nodded in a gesture to go but she didn't want to leave Eliot with no one for if he wakes up, even though she knew that keeping McSweeten busy would help them to find who wanted to kill their friend _and_ work on their current job, which the solution to was so ridiculously easy that Parker could probably do blind-folded.

She gave a slight grimace at his stunned face, "Can we go get coffee or something? Today's been really rough on me and I... I feel really claustrophobic right now so..."

"Oh, yeah, of course," McSweeten looked over his shoulder, "Taggert, would it be alright if I took Agent Hagen to get something to eat? Our mark is her boyfriend and she's stressed out."

The man behind him raised a brow, "I don't see why not," he entered as the left, "Just be back soon, before anyone notices you're gone."

Parker gave a weak smile to the man before tossing a light glare of annoyance at Sophie and Nate before grimacing at Hardison, who looked just as pained to see her leave Eliot's room as she felt.

**333**

When Eliot opened his eyes again, he was surprised that it was suddenly night outside and that only Hardison and some old FBI agent were in his room, speaking in hushed tones. He also noted that his friend was now wearing an FBI jacket and badge. He closed his eyes against the headache, "Dammit, Allan... I thought you were off duty..." he said hoarsely, remembering his friend's FBI persona while simultaneously coughing around the harsh feeling in his throat and only making it worse.

"Here man, have some of these," Hardison said quickly, grabbing the cup of ice chips and walking over to the hitter.

"I don't- want none of... that," Eliot's growl seemed more like a rough whisper to the hacker, who frowned as the brunette continued speaking, "I want _water_,"

"Detective Taggert, can you go get my friend's doctor?"

The old FBI agent was looking at the hitter in surprise but nodded and turned to leave, "I'll be back in a few minutes with Dr. Jeninson to question Mr. Baker, here." he paused again, "Have you seen Agent McSweeten?"

"Maybe he's getting sweet on P-Jenni again," Eliot muttered before groaning in pain and coughing again, forcing away a scowl at everyone's aliases, including his own. "Where is everyone, anyway?" he groaned in annoyance after the agent had left.

"Well, Nate and Sophie are getting the money from some big company a few miles north and Parker is pretending to be your distraught girlfriend to make McSweeten less focused on helping you because he has a crush on her." Hardison asserted and held up the cup of chips, foregoing the spoon because he knew Eliot would hate to be spooned the ice even more than he would just getting some at all, "And seriously man, you need to cool off your throat a little bit, get something helpful in your stomach, if only a little bit, so you can possibly be allowed to eat lunch, if not dinner, tomorrow,"

"I'm not sucking on ice chips, Hardison," he said harshly, spitting up a bit of blood into a corner of his bed sheet, "It's degrading,"

"What's degrading is you not accepting anyone's help, even if you know you need it," Hardison muttered in annoyance, frowning just as well before softening at Eliot's pained expression, "Listen man, I don't know what happened to make you so self reliant, to the point of nearly punishing yourself for whatever you did before the team, but you gotta let us take care of you right now," he gently held the cup to Eliot's lips, "But you have to trust somebody to take care of you. You have to trust us to help you the same way you help us."

Eliot stared at the hacker but Alec met his stare head on, barely twitching, and slowly, the hitter accepted that he wasn't getting out of it and let his friend tip the cup to give him several ice chips just before pulling back. "I hate you," the brunette muttered sullenly and Hardison smiled because he knew his best friend was lying.

"You do not."

Eliot's face was impassive and impossible to read, "Maybe not all the time, no," he conceded with a nod, "But right now, I hate you."

"You're just pissed because I-" he didn't get to finish as suddenly the window broke and something clattered to the floor.

Alec shot towards Eliot and began pulling his arms but then he was pushed away as his friend shouted, more like yelped, at him, "Hardison, you need to get out of here!" but the warning came too late and suddenly the room was exploding in a flash of red and yellow and black as the timer went off in a catastrophic blaze.

**Note: I am a very mean author indeed...**


	4. Hysterical Reassurance

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited/alerted and I'm really sorry for the long wait, I've been having some health issues recently:(**

**Chapter 4: Hysterical Reassurance**

Parker was following the two _actual_ FBI agents and Dr. Jeninson towards Eliot's room when it happened.

The hall shook and a cascade of fire suddenly burst out of a room four doors ahead. The very room that was being guarded by two police men. The very room that Eliot and Hardison were in.

She was running forward before she could even stop to think of a plan of action, bursting through the room and covering her mouth to shield the fumes of smoke and debris. It wasn't that large scale of an explosion, somehow only keeping to this room and a little in the hall, but it was still in extremely close proximity to her friends. Point blank proximity.

"Parker? Hardison? Eliot? What's going on in there?" she heard Nate's frantic voice followed by Sophie's but she mostly ignored them as she tried to see through the fog and made to take another step when strong arms grasped around her middle and pulled her back and several feet from the flaming archways that was once a closed hospital door.

She fought and struggled, "Let me go! I need to get to them! Let go! Let go! Let GO!" but she wasn't strong enough and as she heard people shouting and doctors rushing on sight, heard Taggert speak into his radio about what happened, she fell against McSweeten and began to cry silently because she didn't know what else she could do with no reassuring sounds coming from the com, only the sound of flames and Nate and Sophie shouting worriedly.

"Shhh..." the agent whispered gently but didn't really have anything to say to comfort her and she was grateful to him for not trying, knowing it would have probably made her feel worse.

"There's somebody coming out!" a random police officer shouted and she looked up blearily to see one - no, two! - figures silhouetted against the flames, limping slowly through the doorway. Then she heard laughter. Slightly hysterical laughter from the one person she least expected to laugh in any sort of dangerous situation.

"Now, dude, that wasn't an explosion. That little thing, it was nothing!" Eliot's tone was hysterical, wild, and edgy as he laughed in a way that chilled near everyone to the bone by the amount of fear and insanity that was in it.

Hardison was looking disgruntled but unharmed save for a few burns and bruises as he supported said hysterical hitter over his shoulder, "He shoved us under the bed, muttered something about heat resistant bed-frames**(Note: I don't really know if that's **_**true**_** but... well, it's my story and I can do what I want! So there;p)**, and then the bomb that landed near us went off." he said quietly then looked at Eliot warily, "I think he's having some sort of nervous breakdown."

"Parker! Hardison! What's going on!" she heard Nate exclaim again, "We're almost there but you need to fill us in for when we get there!"

"Somebody's really out to get Mark..." she said, careful to keep in persona as she spoke to Nate while making it seem like she was going into shock because her 'boyfriend' and 'partner' were both alright.

And she was and suddenly she could do nothing more than let more tears, these ones being tears of relief, stream down her face as her friends made their way over to where McSweeten was holding her upright.

Hardison moved slightly to put his hand on her shoulder and Eliot gave a slightly crazed but extremely caring smile as he pulled away from the man and lent forward to hug her, even in his state of delirious hysterics noticing her troubles and wanting to wash them away.

So Parker let out a slight laugh when he kissed her on the head and then buried his face in her hair, suddenly holding her in a protective manor, "I'm sorry," he mumbled guiltily, "This is why I don't do hospitals. It's too easy for them to find me."

"Mr. Baker, are you saying that you know who's out to kill you?" Traggert cut in, disgruntled over the man's odd behavior.

"Well, no, I don't," Eliot's face showed pure confusion for a moment before clearing, "See, I have lots of enemies that want me dead, so I don't really _know_..." he trailed off and held Parker closer still, sighing in content.

"How long till _his_ happy pills wear off?" Hardison muttered, remembering Eliot's quote from the rehab center months ago about Parker.

"Mr. Baker!" Dr. Jeninson suddenly snapped from his stupor, rushing towards his patient, "Mr. Baker, I need you to answer me a few questions, okay?"

Parker smiled as the man nodded against her neck and finally returned his hug before pulling back, "Go take your test to make sure you're not too hurt, Sparky, and you should get looked at, too, those burns looks way too pretty to be anything good,"

McSweeten grabbed her arm as Hardison was dragged off by some random doctor and Eliot warily followed Jeninson, his bleary looking eyes ever so slightly beginning to clear up and become, well, _there_ again. "Do you think that Mark is into something that isn't safe?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she said immediately, offering a smile that she hoped was reassuring, "But he's a big boy, he can handle himself."

"That's not what I-"

"Jenni! Jenni! What happened?!" Sophie suddenly cut in, rushing to Parker's side with Nate right on her heels.

"Someone set off a bomb in his room," she said, suddenly much more serious, "But he and Allan are okay, they're being looked at now."

**444**

"My damned ear's still ringing," Nate resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the hacker complained and rubbed at his ears, "What? Your ears would be ringing too if you had just lived through an explosion by flipping a hospital bed on its side, which by the way, shouldn't even be possible!" Alec defended himself when everyone gave him a look.

"Mark's not complaining," Parker said quietly, frowning.

"Well, yeah, because he's asleep again! I swear, he only woke up to freakin' catch the bomb before it went off!" the man ranted, gesturing to his sleeping friend, "Which, by the way, you guys didn't bother to put a perimeter around outside!" he looked at McSweeten and Traggert accusingly, glaring angrily, "My best friend could have died! I could have died! The whole freakin hospital could be a smouldering pile of ash right now!"

"Calm down, Allan, getting angry wont make anything better," Nate cut in with a sigh, looking up at the ceiling briefly, which was _not_ rolling your eyes by the way, and then looked towards Eliot, who was now sleeping peacefully in their even more high grade security Intensive Care room, now on the sixth floor instead of second, "If anyone should be angry it should be him. He was the target after all."

He almost regretted saying it to calm Hardison's anger because almost immediately both Sophie and Parker stiffened and looked a bit paler, the later reaching forward and grabbing the hitter's hand tightly in her own while the former lowered her head to hide her concerns. But hey, at least the hacker also noticed the signs and calmed, aware that he and Nate's conversation were making the girls upset.

"Yeah, I know..." he sighed, running a hand over his head, "But that doesn't mean I can't be mad at whoever did this."

Nate smirked slightly, "I wouldn't expect anything less from anyone here."

"Are you sure you don't know who's doing this?" Traggert asked suspiciously, looking between the group, "Who is this man, anyway?"

"He's Marcus Baker, he's our family, and he's hurt, that's all that needs to be known, sir," Sophie said curtly, worrying her lip slightly, "And we do not know what is happening or who's after him. We can do nothing but sit by my brother-in-law and wait till he's conscious and _right_ to speak with him." she sighed, "I hope he's not still hysterical when he wakes up."

Nate could share her sentiments. Seeing Eliot in a state of delirium, where he'd go from fearful and jumpy to almost crazy in laughter, was probably the scariest thing that he's ever been through except for Sam's death. And that's saying something, because since joining this team some pretty scary things have gone down that he would really rather not relive.

He sighed and turned back to look at Eliot again, waiting for, hoping for, his eyes to open again but be their usual clear blue, not the dark pain or bright insanity that had been frequenting them every time he's woken in the past few hours.

Hoping that Eliot would be aware but not in pain when he woke, so he could tell them who he thought was doing this. So he could tell them, in very certain terms, that he was going to be alright.

Because all of them, especially Parker, needed that reassurance.

**Note: Okay, so I decided to include more of the poison's effects, such as delirium to Eliot's character for a while but it's only gonna be minor things so don't worry, Eli'll be fine... maybe... And on another note, it's gonna be maybe 2 weeks before the next update because of personal reasons but please bare with me, I'm usually more kept together then this:(**


	5. Something's Wrong

**Well, I'm finally back! It took a bit longer than expected(around two extra weeks:/) but I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Oh! And thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**Chapter 5 - Something's Wrong**

The first sign that something was wrong was when Eliot started coughing in his sleep. Wet, violent coughs that caused bits of blood to get in the sleeping, now startled awake, Parker's hair.

The second sign was Hardison nearly falling when he shot up to press the call button, face draining of color as he swayed and had to sit back down immediately, leaving Sophie to rushedly do what the suddenly weak hacker couldn't.

The third was nearly an hour later, when Eliot was deemed comatose and Alec could barely move his arms while in a hospital bed next to his friend. The doctors said that the bomb from before had had poisonous toxins in it and that it was extremely lucky that the two friends were already inside the hospital when the effects started showing. It was like these people were obsessed with poisons or something, is what an edgy Sophie had commented in disdain, running a hand over Parker's head soothingly as the woman sat in-between the two beds, worriedly clutching Eliot's limp hand and Hardison's stiff one and not uttering a sound.

McSweeten and Taggert continued to share worried looks and glance towards Parker and Hardison before looking at Eliot and then again to each other before repeating. It was honestly starting to get on Sophie's already frazzled nerves and why couldn't they just _leave_ so the team could discuss their plans for finding whoever was doing this? It wasn't like _they_ could leave so they could speak, not when not only Eliot but now Alec was also hospitalized, one was targeted and the other an unfortunate victim of cross-fire.

They didn't want to leave them unattended after the second attempt at destroying their team.

"Do you think he-?"

"Man, if you ask us one more time if we're sure that Mark didn't do something to piss someone off, I don't care if I can't move my arms, I will find a way to strangle you." Hardison promised fiercely, his annoyance at not being able to move his arms, his _hands_ to continue working on his computer to find Eliot's almost assassin getting the better of him as he glared at McSweeten, who was making far too much of an effort to prove that Mark, that _Eliot_ was some sort of bad guy, as if anything he said would make Agent 'Hagen' go for him instead.

Sophie shared his sentiments and hid her surprise at his words with a slight nod of approval, catching Nate do the same thing. Parker said nothing but Sophie noticed her hand flexing as she squeezed Hardison's hand a bit tighter in thanks. Even the left corner of Eliot's mouth twitched ever so slightly, but that was probably coincidence.

**555**

Eliot was floating in the darkness of his consciousness, listening. He was aware but he _wasn't_. He tried to move his hand to rub Parker's with his thumb, but he couldn't even make it twitch. He attempted to shift his legs because they were going numb from lack of movement, but they remained still. He even tried moving his head to the side, but it just remained limp on the overly soft pillow that he would kill to have replaced with one of his firmer ones at home.

He was paralyzed, he realized through the fog of frustration in his being.

He heard McSweeten make a few subtle jabs at him, knowing they were unconscious bouts of jealousy but able to do nothing to talk to the man who was vying for the thief's attention. He listened to Nate's subtle way of trying to get the two FBI agents to leave, but they said they'd feel better being where they could watch 'Marcus' and 'Agent Thomas' both his and his friend's aliases, to keep them from getting hurt.

If nothing else, even when he so obviously disliked Eliot for having the full attention of 'Agent Hagen', McSweeten was still man enough to do his job and offer to watch over them while the others got breakfast.

They refused and Eliot tried again to move and tell them to go get breakfast because they needed energy but, to his undying annoyance, found that he still couldn't move even his fingers or his toes.

Once more McSweeten was asking about him but, to Eliot's utter amazement and immense amusement, Hardison threatened to _strangle_ him. He swears to every higher being in the universe that he was mentally laughing so hard that he had actually managed to physically smile.

**555**

"His brain activity suggests that he's awake but everything else suggests that he's still in a comatose state," Jeninson was muttered and Nate looked up from his book curiously, looking at Hardison who could almost fully move his shoulder muscles now, and then Eliot, who showed no change, not even twitching, but the doctor said it was because the poison was also a paralysis, explaining his hacker's inability to move his upper body.

"Is it possible that he's awake but... _not_ awake?" he asked carefully and that made the hacker look up as well, forced out of his world of thoughts by the sheer concern for his best friend.

"I... guess it could? You mean conscious but not fully within the realm of reality, right?" at Nate's nod, the doctor looked thoughtful, "It could be that once the new antidote kicks in fully he'll be able to move and wake fully within the next two hours or so," Jeninson conceded, nodding, "Where'd your friends go?"

"I sent the girls to get breakfast and the agents... well, I made them go with the girls." he smiled slightly, "To keep them safe, you know?"

"I can understand the need," the man nodded in agreement and then walked out, leaving Nate with his immobile hacker.

"Are you gonna tell me where you sent Sophie and Parker now?" Hardison said, annoyed and remembering why he'd been ignoring Nate in the first place.

"I sent them to find us clues, Hardison," Nate smiled ever so slightly, "Maybe find out who those men working for Doriou were and find their prior bosses..." a smirk, "Or their current ones."

"And you sent them where to find this?"

The mastermind could sense how agitated the hacker was becoming, but while it was fun to pick on the hacker, it didn't seem the point to do so anymore, "To the old boathouse that Eliot got knocked out in, to collect the security footage from the manager so we can run your facial recognition program on them."

"You sent them _where_ now?" Hardison said, going wide eyed, "Eliot's gonna kill you when he wakes up! What if one of those goons are still there waiting for them?"

"I sent the FBI with them, just in case."

"Like _they're_ gonna be any use!" Hardison snorted in contempt, "I bet McSweeten's gonna be shot by both Sophie and Parker before they even make it back because he keeps saying Eliot's into something bad, which isn't too far off, but he thinks that it's gonna effect how anyone of us, who are into not as bad but still pretty bad shit, feel about the guy? Man, I don't know how he even managed to become one of Parker's friends."

Silence before Nate finally smiled, "How long have you been holding that rant in?"

"Maybe the last three hours since I couldn't move."

"Yeah, it sounded like it." Nate smiled slightly and turned back to his book, humming a bit in thought and decided to say one more thing to calm his hacker's nerves, "And Hardison, I don't think we have to worry about anyone being there to wait for them," a smirk, "If anything, they should be the ones worried about us doing the waiting."

"You know that's right."

**555**

Sophie smiled slightly at the manager, who had been their client before, "Hello Mr. Stuwarts," she said in her best cheerful voice, "Remember me? Sarah Baker?"

He looked at her oddly, noted the FBI behind her, and then smiled back at her, "Why, of course I do, Mrs. Baker!" he said amiably, "What can I do for you?"

"You know that footage of Tom's brother? The one where he caught that big fish?" she asked and was happy to note that the man understood, if his nodding was to go by, "Well Tom wanted to know what it was called and sent me and Jenni here," a gesture to the still silent Parker, "To get the tapes to get our minds off of what's happening to Marcus and so we could ID it and put it in Tom's current behavioral report."

She was forever grateful when he didn't ask what was happening to their hitter and glanced at Parker only to stop. "Jenni? Where are-?"

"Over here!" Sophie sighed in relief at the cheery voice, happy to have Parker back to her enthusiastic self, even if it was a bit down trodden with worry, and turned to follow her, asking the agents to collect the tapes for her when Mr. Stuwarts got back.

"What is it, Parker?" she asked quietly, leaning down beside the crouching blond to see what she saw.

"I think I found a clue." she held up a ring with an odd design on it, "I saw it fly off one of their hands when Eliot hit him and thought if I found it we'd be able to find whoever did this and... and he'd get better..." her smile dropped slowly as she saw Sophie's sad smile, "He'll get better, wont he?"

"The doctor said he should be when he wakes, but we don't really know, Parker. No one does." she pat the blond's head in comfort and pulled her close, "No one really knows how those two different poisons will react to one another, let alone their antidotes." Sophie felt Parker's arms wrap around her middle and pressed her lips comfortingly to the younger woman's hair, "All we can do is hope for the best."

"And find whoever keeps trying to kill Eliot?" Parker asked quietly.

"And find whoever's trying to kill our friend." Sophie agreed determinedly, pulling away, "Now, we have the tapes and this ring will probably mean something to someone so we should hurry back, yes?"

"Okay, Sophie," she said quietly and Sophie laced their fingers together, knowing they both needed the comfort of a friend.

**555**

"It's no use, the symbols mean _nothing_," a random FBI tech said in annoyance, scowling a bit, and Hardison had to refrain from holding his eyes. Or, he should have refrained from rolling his eyes, but he was in such a bad mood that he didn't bother hiding his disdain as he held out still too heavy limbs for _his_ laptop and after Nate had placed it in his lap and had plugged in his smart phone for him, Hardison slowly, at an agonizing pace that made him want to smash his face into his laptop's keyboard, typed out the letters with his still mostly numb fingers, as he began looking into the ring with the symbol on it and trying to find it's meaning and value while simultaneously trying to secretly run facial recognition of the thugs who took on Eliot a few days prior without Taggert, who was watching unabashedly over his shoulder, noticing him doing the later.

It was going to be a long night.

**Props to anyone who caught the psych reference;P**


End file.
